An employee-led vote has resulted in the discontinuation of representation by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) at an ABC Television Network affiliated acquired in August 2013 through a multimillion-dollar merger with Fisher Communications.
That said, the vote wasn’t an unanimous one.
Unionized anchors and reporters at KOMO-4 in Seattle, owned by Sinclair Inc., voted to end SAG-AFTRA representation, following a decertification petition filed with the National Labor Relations Board in July.
SAG-AFTRA had represented all employees of “Sinclair Media of Seattle, LLC,” parent of KOMO-4, engaged to render services as reporters, announcers, or any other category of talent who perform before the microphone or camera, both staff and freelance.
A Notice of Election was distributed July 23, and all unionized employees as of July 10 were eligible to participate in the vote, conducted across the day on August 12.
Sixteen total ballots were counted. The vote? Nine votes against union representation were cast, with seven for continued SAG-AFTRA union relationships. Six unionized employees did not cast ballots.
The NLRB certified the results late last week. The result: SAG-AFTRA will no longer serve as the exclusive bargaining representative for KOMO-TV employees in the unit.
Sinclair gained KOMO-TV along with radio stations KVI, KOMO-AM and KPLZ and assumed an LMA for KOMO-FM through its $373.3 million merger with Fisher, closed 13 years ago this month. The radio stations were later sold to Lotus Communications, the privately held radio broadcasting family owned by the Kalmenson family.
In a statement, Baltimore-headquartered Sinclair said it “strives to be the employer of choice in every market we serve, and we believe this decision reflects the trust and strong working relationship we have built with our employees. Our employees are the heart of our company, and we value their commitment, contributions and dedication to serving the Seattle community.”
KOMO-TV unionized staff worked with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in filing the petition; the group offers no-cost legal assistance to union workers. As the foundation explained, employees have many reasons for wanting to end a union relationship. In this case, it was understood that SAG-AFTRA dues were mandatory for those in these job categories at KOMO-4 and that SAG-AFTRA representation “was largely ineffective, especially since on-air talent typically negotiate their own contracts above and beyond the union minimums.”
Washington is one of 24 states without a Right to Work law, which would safeguard workers by making union affiliation and dues payment strictly voluntary. “No employee in America should be trapped under so-called union ‘representation’ they oppose, and it adds insult to injury to force employees to pay unwanted union officials just to keep their jobs,” National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said.
SAG-AFTRA members pay an annual base fee of $246.14, with work dues deducted at 1.575% from their paycheck, according to the union’s website.
In a statement, it shared that KOMO-TV reporter Jeremy Harris filed a petition with the NLRB seeking decertification, bemoaning the “monopoly bargaining power” over all air talent at the station. Harris arrived in Seattle from Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate KUTV-2 in Salt Lake City. He started there as an assignment editor while in college and then worked as a reporter from 2014 to 2022.
